Honestly, I’ve really enjoyed having a relationship with my mother. Shehaschanged. She seems to genuinely care about me and my child.
Unfortunately, I have to cancel lunch with her this week since I decided to stay in Bristol. But I’m hoping that tonight I can talk to Cash and that next week he’ll join me to meet her.
“Are you sure you don’t have time at all this week, Grace?” my mother asks over the phone.
I stare at the bay from my desk. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m not even in Boston this week. I’m spending the week in Bristol with Cash.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them.Why did I mention Bristol?
Shit.
“Oh, is his family from there?”
Trying to think of anything other than admitting that Cash isthe Cassius Jamesand yes his family is from Bristol, I quickly say, “Didn’t I tell you? I opened an office in Bristol.”
“Oh, no, you didn’t mention that. Isn’t that going to make it hard for you to see Cash? I hope you realize how busy you’ll be with a baby and a business. You don’t want to make it harder by working so far apart.”
I lean back in my chair and instinctively turn to Cash’s side of the building. I can’t see him from here, but there is a secret door that connects our two offices. I smile thinking of all the fun that will be once we don’t have this huge belly to contend with. “He’s actually moving his business here too. It was his plan. Have his office and my office in the same spot, in the suburbs, so that I don’t have to pick and choose between work and family. He even had a nursery built in the office,” I brag, truly touched that he’s done all this for me.
“Wow, that really is something. I wasn’t aware he could just up and move his company though. James Spirits is headquartered in Boston, isn’t it?”
I close my eyes as realization dawns on me. I think even she realizes her slip.
She knows he’s a James. She’s probably known all along.
Fuck.
“Uh, sorry, Mom, someone just walked in. I have to go.” I hang up the phone before I divulge anything else.
I can’t believe she had me fooled. I can’t believe I trusted that she was trying to spend time with me because she actually wanted a relationship with me. How could I have been so unbelievably naïve? And now she knows about the Bristol operation.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
What is her angle? Does she just want money? I can’t have her going to the press again. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to swallow my pride and continue this farce of a relationship with her so that she doesn’t realize I know her game. At least until Cash announces the new company.
My stomach clenches with unease. This feels awfully familiar to when I fucked up by doing that interview with Vanessa. God, how could I have been so stupid to slip to my mother? The least trustworthy person I know. And to top it all off, I’ve been lying to Cash all along by not telling him about my lunches with her. Even if I never blatantly lied, I lied by omission. And I have a feeling he’s not going to think that is a distinction worth mentioning.